Cherry & Almond Muffins

I made these muffins for breakfast this morning as a special treat.  They turned out delicious.  I used to love making muffins for breakfast, but when I became vegan it was hard to find boxed ones to make.  So now I get to make them from scratch!.  If you love almond flavoring - these are awesome.  It made my house smell so good!  The kids and I are trying to save some for when "dad" gets home from work, but that might not be so easy!  I got the recipe from http://www.meettheshannons.net/, a cool blog where a couple is transforming the whole Betty Crocker cookbook into vegan recipes.  So cool!  The only things I did differently in this recipe were using baking cups instead of spraying, and using chopped almonds instead of sliced.  I only put almonds on half though, because my kids aren't huge nut lovers.  

Cherry & Almond Muffins

• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/3 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoons Salt
• 1 Cup Almond Milk 
• 4 Tablespoons Margarine (softened) 
• 1 teaspoon Almond Extract 
• 1 Cup Frozen Cherries (defrosted) 
• 2 Tablespoons Applesauce
• Raw Sugar & Raw Almond Slices to sprinkle over the top.
  Baking Spray (there are several vegan ones - just read the label to make sure) 

Heat oven to 400.
Spray your muffin pan with a light coating of Baking Spray.In a large bowl, combine Flour, Baking Powder, Sugar and Salt with a wire whisk to make sure they are blended. Add Almond Milk, Margarine, Almond Extract and Applesauce and
blend with a hand held electric mixer on the lowest speed.Fold in the defrosted Cherries. Fill muffin pan about 3/4 of the way full. Then sprinkle the top with Raw Sugar and a few Raw Almond Slices. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until they are golden brown and you can remove a toothpick from the largest muffin cleanly.